Scientists plan Nasa mission to land on asteroid on possible collision course with Earth

Scientists are making plans to land a Nasa probe on the asteroid that is on a potential collision course for Earth, it has emerged. Asteroid 1999 RQ36 has a 1-in-1,000 chance of hitting the Earth at some point before the year 2200. And its orbit means that it is most likely to hit us on 24th September 2182. An impact with the 1,800 feet-wide asteroid would result in an explosion on Earth equivalent to hundreds of nuclear bombs detonating at once. But some scientists are already making early plans to send a mission to 1999 RQ36 to collect a sample of it to help better predict its future trajectory. (Daily Mail)